Technological advances in the field of communication have allowed communication devices such as portable radios to become smaller and smaller in size. This however has decreased the amount of useable housing surface area ("real estate") that can be used to mount user controls (e.g. switches, volume controls, keypads, etc.), as well as the communication device's antenna. Correspondingly, as communication devices have become more sophisticated over time, there has been an increased need to increase the number of controls in order to handle the increased number of features found in modern communication devices. These opposite competing forces have created a need for new ways of minimizing the amount of area taken up by user controls. A need therefore exists in the art for more real estate efficient uses of the smaller housing areas found on modern communication products.